SOUTHPORT, England — How’s this for a dreamy scenario for English sports fans on Sunday.
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An Englishman becomes “the champion golfer of the year” by winning the British Open at Royal Birkdale.
Then, a few hours later, England’s soccer team wins the World Cup .
“It would be mega,” said Matt Wallace, one of 21 English golfers in the field for the final major of 2026 taking place on the northwest coast of England from Thursday.
So, is this joyous sporting double a possibility? Sure.
A probability? That would be pushing it.
It might be the most well-known fact in all of sports in these parts that England — where soccer is king — hasn’t won the World Cup since 1966. This year, the men’s team is into the semifinals and will face Lionel Messi and Argentina on Wednesday.
Less known is that no Englishman has won the Open Championship in England since Tony Jacklin in 1969.
Soccer fans call it six decades of hurt, and the wait is getting excruciating for the golfers, too. Indeed, since Jacklin, only one Englishman has won the Open and that was Nick Faldo — three times (1987, ’90 and ’92) and all of them in Scotland.
Tommy Fleetwood might be England’s best bet this year and, boy, how the locals would celebrate a win.
As a kid, Fleetwood lived just round the corner from Royal Birkdale, which he’d sneak on when accompanying his father, Peter, on evening dog walks.
He’s the poster boy for this championship but is aware he’s sharing the limelight with the country’s more globally recognized soccer players this week.
“For those guys, they definitely carry a nation on their shoulders a lot more than we do,” the No. 9-ranked Fleetwood said. “They’ve been doing a great job.”
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And yes, the soccer will be intruding on the golf.
On Monday, Matt Fitzpatrick — the highest-ranked English golfer at No. 3 — pleaded to be given a later tee time for the first round on Thursday. The England-Argentina game kicks off at 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday night and wouldn’t finish until close to 11 p.m. if it goes to extra time and penalties.
“If anyone’s listening, … it would be nice if all the English lads were late/early,” Fitzpatrick said of the Thursday/Friday tee times. “That would be great.”
They weren’t so lucky. Each of the first eight groups to go out in the first round on Thursday will contain an Englishman.
Matthew Baldwin, who was born a stone’s throw away in Southport, is a member at Royal Birkdale and came through qualifying to take his place in his home major. He will have the honor of hitting the first shot of the championship at 6:35 a.m. on Thursday.
That might mean him having to wake up at 4 a.m. Will he watch the soccer?
The World Cup effect is certainly evident around Royal Birkdale, which is a short drive from the soccer hotbed of Liverpool. Watching players on the practice putting green on Sunday was a young girl wearing an England jersey with “Bellingham” and “10” on the back — a nod to England star Jude Bellingham — and with a tattoo of the England flag on each cheek.
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon has said the final round of the Open could be brought forward to avoid a clash with the World Cup final, which begins at 8 p.m. local time. The last round might not finish until around 6:30 p.m. — and that’s if there’s no need for a playoff.
Just imagine if it’s Fleetwood making that late-evening walk down the 18th ahead of collecting the claret jug and watching England in the soccer final.
“It would be outrageous,” said Roger Shutt, a 70-year-old Englishman who was one of the thousands of fans to attend Monday’s practice round. “If they coincide, it’ll be a holiday for everyone.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
